Specifically, Public Services Canada is saying that provinces and territories have asked for $137.9 million in federal money. That money will be used to help cover costs related to 10 flood events, yet this is only an estimate because this year’s floods have not been included, according to Insurance Business Canada.
The Canadian Press is reporting that based on calculations of previous flood events – the actual cost of giving up 100,000 flood-endangered properties across the country will run into the billions of dollars. CTV News Canada is reporting that only four times in the past 10 years have provinces turned to the government to ask for help in moving homeowners to safer areas.
This happened twice in New Brunswick, and once each in Quebec and Yukon. In New Brunswick, the government paid 80 percent of the $1.8 million spent to buy out a total of 36 properties after flooding in 2008 and 2010.
The 100,000 homes figure comes from an Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) report that used the 14 million dwellings Statistics Canada recorded in the 2016 census to come up with the 100,000 homes at the highest risk from repeat flooding.
“No government bailout program or insurance program is going to be able to deal with those repeated cases where you’re going to have repeated claims in a short period of time. That’s where you may focus buyouts,” commented IBC vice-president of federal affairs Craig Stewart.
Provinces need to supply some data
Public Safety Canada (PSA) is expecting to receive additional requests for financial aid to help in relocating homes as the frequency of extreme flooding continues to increase. However, all the provinces and territories need to be prepared to provide the required documentation of provincial/territorial expenditures, which is then reviewed by federal auditors.
All the data collected will feed into a debate governments are already having over leaving homeowners in floodplains or moving them because of repeated flood losses. And this is not a discussion peculiar to Canada. The United States, Britain, the state of Louisiana and other countries are now having this same debate.
Federal help generally kicks in when the costs surpass what local governments could reasonably be expected to cover on their own. Monies are not paid directly to individuals, but to the province or territory through the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA), administered by PSC.
Looking toward the future
According to Global News in 2017, the average cost of damage from severe weather stood at $400 million in Canada per year. That’s up from $100 million before 2008-2009, according to Pete Karageorgos of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), which represents Canada’s private home insurers.
According to the federal government, urban flooding alone resulted in over $20 billion in damage over the ten-year period between 2003 and 2012.
All this brings us to the bigger discussion that needs to take place – The extreme weather events are not going away and neither is global warming. Governments and communities are going to have to have some serious discussions and come up with plans to protect people and mitigate the effects of global warming, regardless of it we are talking about floods, blizzards, or wildfires.
